Today we're unlocking our very first episode of CrichtonCast, our Michael Crichton spinoff podcast exclusive to The Barrens. In this installment, host Randall Colburn is joined by Losers Dan Caffrey and Justin Gerber to discuss The Andromeda Strain, the crunchy, science-forward supernatural virus story that propelled Crichton, then a Harvard Medical graduate in his mid-20s, into literary stardom. 

Together they weigh in on Crichton's early life, the book's origins, its clever use of verisimilitude, intellectual distrust, the charms of Robert Wise's ultra-faithful 1971 adaptation, and the ways in which it dovetails with King's own pandemic tale, The Stand. 

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